Need to carefully review terms and conditions when using overseas delivery agent service

  Complaints related to overseas delivery agent service are increasing in line with the sharp growth in the number of consumers purchasing goods via overseas online shopping malls. Overseas delivery agents provide delivery services for products that consumers bought through online shopping malls but cannot be directly shipped to a consumer’s country of residence.

■ Rising number of complaints related to overseas delivery agent service

  According to the Korea Consumer Agency (www.kca.go.kr), consumer counseling requests related to overseas delivery agent service reported to the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center* is annually increasing from 27 cases in 2012 to 17 cases in 2013 and to 180 cases in 2014, along with the rising number of consumers using overseas online shopping malls.

   * 1372 Consumer Counseling Center (www.ccn.go.kr): An integrated nationwide hotline that receives consumer counseling requests, participated by 10 consumer organizations, 16 municipal/local autonomous bodies, and the KCA

  In breaking down the 224 consumer counseling requests from 2012 to 2014 by type, delivery delays accounted for the largest portion at 60 cases (26.8%) followed by product losses (33 cases or 14.7%) and product damages (29 cases or 12.9%). Of note, consumer complaints frequently arose due to no clear explanation or notice given on delivery delay, or ordered products not being delivered on a specific anniversary date or on a certain date.

■ Average delivery period of 10 to 20 days

  The KCA compared the terms and conditions on websites of ten delivery agent services*.

   * New York Girls, Mall Tail, iPorter, Allyspost, Eldex, Oh My Zip, WeMakePrice Box, Uni Auction, Ehanex, and Genie Zip

  On average, period of transportation from overseas seller to delivery agent took 7 to 15 days, and period of transportation to a consumer’s home address following the customs clearance procedure took 3 to 4 days (averaging 10 to 20 days in total). Most delivery agents send text messages (3 to 4 times) related to product delivery, delivery cost settlement, shipment, customs clearance procedure, tariffs, domestic delivery status, etc.

■ Scope of compensation for product loss/damage vary

  As shown in the table below, the cap on compensation for product loss or damage is set at USD 300 (4 delivery agents), USD 500 (3), KRW 500,000 (1), and KRW 5 million (1). Also, eight delivery agents provide full compensation amounting to product value, with the full compensation fee set at 3% of product value (6 delivery agents) and 5% of product value (1), and one delivery agent separately charges special packaging cost.

<Delivery period, Compensation cap, Full compensation fee by delivery agent>

 *Full compensation fee: A type of premium that guarantees full compensation amounting to product value in cases where product value exceeds the expected compensation amount

 **Oh My Zip offers services in two separate websites (Old/New)

All ten delivery agents were found to provide an inspection service in which identicality of the delivered product is compared to that on the order form (including whether there is product damage) and consumers are notified if problems are detected. Of note, the scope of inspection service and method of notification differ among delivery agents, so consumers are advised to choose delivery agents by factoring in the nature of the purchased item.

  In cases of requesting product return after using repackaging service to save transportation cost, consumers need to be aware that overseas sellers may refuse returns or charge repackaging cost due to the original packaging being destroyed.

  Based on the above findings, the KCA advised consumers to carefully review the terms and conditions of overseas delivery agents before choosing.